Shloka 21
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
तस्मिन् देयं द्विजे दानं सर्वागमविजानता । प्रदातारं यथा55त्मानं तारयेद् यः स शक्तिमान्,सम्पूर्ण शास्त्रोंका ज्ञाता मानव उसी ब्राह्मणको दान दे, जो दाताका तथा अपना भी संसारसागरसे उद्धार कर सके। वही शक्तिशाली ब्राह्मण है
tasmin deyaṃ dvije dānaṃ sarvāgamavijānātā | pradātāraṃ yathātmānaṃ tārayet yaḥ sa śaktimān ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: Therefore, a person who truly understands the whole body of sacred learning should give charity to that brāhmaṇa who has the power to ferry across both the giver and himself from the ocean of worldly existence. Such a brāhmaṇa alone is to be regarded as truly capable.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity should be directed with discernment: the worthiest recipient is the spiritually capable brāhmaṇa whose wisdom and conduct can benefit both himself and the donor—symbolically ‘ferrying’ them across saṃsāra.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners on the proper object of dāna, defining the ‘powerful’ brāhmaṇa not by status alone but by the capacity to guide and uplift, thereby making the gift ethically and spiritually fruitful.